Harry Shum Jr. (born April 28, 1982) is an American actor, dancer, choreographer, and singer. He is best known for his roles as Mike Chang on the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

television series ''

Glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...

'' (2009–15), Benson Kwan on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

television series '' Grey's Anatomy'' (2005-), and as

Magnus Bane This is a list of the main characters from ''The Mortal Instruments'' series by Cassandra Clare, including the novels '' City of Bones'', '' City of Ashes'', '' City of Glass'', ''City of Fallen Angels'', '' City of Lost Souls'', and ''City of ...

on the Freeform television series '' Shadowhunters'' (2016–19). He was nominated for four

Screen Actors Guild Awards Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1952 to recognize outstanding performances in movie an ...

for his performance in ''

'', winning once. He won the award for The Male TV Star of 2018 in the

E! People's Choice Awards The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the general public and fans. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined using Gallup Polls unti ...

for '' Shadowhunters''. Shum has appeared in the films '' Step Up 2: The Streets'' (2008), '' Step Up 3D'' (2010), ''

White Frog ''White Frog'' is a 2012 American comedy-drama film directed by Quentin Lee and written by Fabienne Wen. The film's plot follows neglected 16-year-old Nick Young, played by Booboo Stewart, a teenager with autism spectrum disorder whose life is chan ...

'' (2012), ''

Revenge of the Green Dragons ''Revenge of the Green Dragons'' is a 2014 crime drama film directed by Andrew Lau and Andrew Loo, written by Michael Di Jiacomo and Andrew Loo, with Martin Scorsese as an executive producer. The film stars Justin Chon, Kevin Wu, Harry Shum Jr., ...

'' (2014), '' Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny'' (2016), ''

Crazy Rich Asians ''Crazy Rich Asians'' is a satirical 2013 romantic comedy novel by Kevin Kwan. Kwan stated that his intention in writing the novel was to "introduce a contemporary Asia to a North American audience". He claimed the novel was loosely based on his ...

'' (2018), the

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

web series '' The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers'' (2010–2011) and the YouTube Originals series ''

Single by 30 ''Single by 30'' is an original romantic comedy series created by Wong Fu Productions. The series was launched on YouTube Red on August 24, 2016. The focal point of the show follows the intertwining stories of two young adults Peter (Harry Shum ...

'' (2016). In 2020, he starred in Universal's romantic drama '' All My Life''. In 2021 Shum starred in the thriller ''

Broadcast Signal Intrusion A broadcast signal intrusion is the hijacking of broadcast signals of radio, television stations, cable television broadcast feeds or satellite signals without permission or license. Hijacking incidents have involved local TV and radio stations as ...

'' and appeared in Netflix's holiday rom-com ''

Love Hard ''Love Hard'' is a 2021 American romantic comedy film directed by Hernán Jiménez and written by Danny Mackey and Rebecca Ewing. Starring Nina Dobrev, Jimmy O. Yang and Darren Barnet, it is about a young woman who travels to her online crush's ...

.'' In 2022, Shum had a secondary role in A24's critically acclaimed film ''

Everything Everywhere All At Once ''Everything Everywhere All at Once'' is a 2022 American absurdist comedy-drama film written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (collectively known as "Daniels"), who produced it with Anthony and Joe Russo. The plot centers on a ...

,'' and is set to star in a ''Crazy Rich Asians'' spinoff centered around his and

Gemma Chan Gemma Chan (born 29 November 1982) is an English actress. Born and raised in London, Chan attended the Newstead Wood School for Girls and studied law at Worcester College, Oxford before choosing to pursue a career in acting instead, enrolling at t ...

's characters.

Early life

Shum was born in Limón, Costa Rica, the son of

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

immigrants. His mother is a native of Hong Kong and his father is from Guangzhou, China. They relocated to Costa Rica, where Shum and his two older sisters were born. When Shum was six years old, the family moved to San Francisco, California. He stated, "I feel I have the best of so many worlds. I speak Spanish and Cantonese. Spanish is actually my first language before I learned Cantonese and English." He later stated that he has not spoken Spanish fluently since the age of 6. Shum spent most of his schooling years in San Luis Obispo County, California and graduated from

Arroyo Grande High School Arroyo Grande High School (AGHS) is an American public high school located in Arroyo Grande, California. It serves grades 9–12 as part of the Lucia Mar Unified School District (LMUSD). Campus The majority of classrooms are arranged in rows, ...

in 2000. Initially, he had been more interested in theater and sports but found a passion for dance after auditioning for his high school dance team on a dare. Shum attended San Francisco State University for a year, before dropping out to pursue a dance career. In an interview, he said that his earliest motivations to dance were from watching Ginuwine, Dru Hill, and

Usher Usher may refer to: Several jobs which originally involved directing people and ensuring people are in the correct place: * Usher (occupation) ** Church usher ** Wedding usher, one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony ** Fiel ...

, before becoming influenced by dancers like

Gene Kelly Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American actor, dancer, singer, filmmaker, and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style and sought to create a new form of American dance accessibl ...

and Michael Jackson.

Career

2002–07: Dancer beginnings

Shum began his dance career in Los Angeles. As a 18-year-old, he was spotted by choreographers Rosero McCoy and Jamal Sims to go on a UK tour with the singer Kaci. He steadily built his career, appearing as the only male dancer on BET's '' Comic View'', and starred in a series of Apple

iPod The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes ...

advertisements as dancing silhouettes. He joined

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

, Alicia Keys, and

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette Elliott (born July 1, 1971), better known as Missy Elliott or Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She embarked on her music career with R&B girl group Sista in the earl ...

in their co-headlining tour ''Ladies First'' in 2004, while working as a backup dancer for artists including

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...

Jessica Simpson Jessica Ann Simpson (born July 10, 1980) is an American singer, actress, entrepreneur and philanthropist. After performing in church choirs as a child, Simpson signed with Columbia Records in 1997, aged seventeen. Her debut studio album, '' Swe ...

, and

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...

. He appeared in several music videos of songs including '' Lose My Breath'' by

Destiny's Child Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final line-up comprised Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Houston, Texas. After years of limited ...

and ''It's Like That'' by

. Shum also worked as a dance instructor.

2008–14: Turn to acting, ''Glee, The LXD''

Since 2008, Shum was given roles in '' Step Up 2'' and later '' Step Up 3D,'' both directed by

Jon M. Chu Jonathan Murray Chu (born November 2, 1979) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known as the director of 2018's ''Crazy Rich Asians'', the first film by a major Hollywood studio to feature a majority cast of Asi ...

. From 2009 until 2015, he portrayed the role of Mike Chang, a dancer who joins the glee club, on the

musical comedy-drama series ''

''. Known for a while as "Other Asian" on ''

'', he was given very few lines during the show's first season. Partly due to the enthusiasm from fans during his appearances on the live tour taking place after the first season concluded, Shum's character was given storylines in the second season, mostly involving his relationship with fellow glee club member

Tina Cohen-Chang Tina Cohen-Chang is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series ''Glee''. The character is portrayed by actress Jenna Ushkowitz and has appeared in ''Glee'' from its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. Tina was deve ...

(

Jenna Ushkowitz Jenna Noelle Ushkowitz (; born April 28, 1986) (born Min Ji []) is a South Korean-born American actress, singer, producer and podcast host. She is known for her performances in Broadway musicals such as ''The King and I'' and '' Waitress (musical ...

). He subsequently gave performances of "Make 'Em Laugh" in " The Substitute", "Sing" from '' A Chorus Line'' in "

Duets A duet is a musical composition or piece for two performers. Duets or The Duets may also refer to: Films and television * ''Duets'' (film), a 2000 film, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Giamatti and Huey Lewis * "Duets" (''Glee''), a 2010 episod ...

", "Valerie" in " Special Education", and the show's first dance solo in "

A Night of Neglect "A Night of Neglect" is the seventeenth episode of the second season of the American musical television series ''Glee'', and the thirty-ninth episode overall. It was written by Ian Brennan, directed by Carol Banker, and aired on Fox in the Unite ...

". He was promoted from guest star to series regular for the third season. He was given a major storyline in the third episode of the season, "

Asian F "Asian F" is the third episode of the third season of the American musical television series ''Glee'', and the forty-seventh overall. Written by series co-creator Ian Brennan and directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, it first aired on Fox in the Uni ...

", and performed "

Cool Cool commonly refers to: * Cool, a moderately low temperature * Cool (aesthetic), an aesthetic of attitude, behavior, and style Cool or COOL may also refer to: Economics * Country of origin labelling * mCOOL - US consumer legislation to enforc ...

" from '' West Side Story'', his first solo song. On June 28, 2013, it was reported that Shum would not return as regular on ''Glee'' fifth season, but would be a recurring guest star. Shum worked as both a choreographer and a dancer for the dance group The LXD. Along with Chrisopher Scott, Harry choreographed performances during the ''

Ellen Ellen is a female given name, a diminutive of Elizabeth, Eleanor, Elena and Helen. Ellen was the 609th most popular name in the U.S. and the 17th in Sweden in 2004. People named Ellen include: * Ellen Adarna (born 1988), Filipino actress * Elle ...

'''s Even Bigger Really Big Show, the 82nd Academy Awards and '' So You Think You Can Dance''. The LXD also worked as the opening act for the '' Glee Live! In Concert!'' tour starting in May 2010. A mini web series of the same name and starring '' The LXD'' was created by

, with Shum again taking the position of the choreographer and portrayed Elliot, while also writing the script for one of the episodes. Shum has been featured in many productions of Wong Fu Productions. In 2011, Shum starred in a short action film, ''

3 Minutes ''3 Minutes'' is an action-oriented short film that was released on January 10, 2011. Production on the film commenced in 2010, with director Ross Ching at the helm, alongside producers Don Le and George Wang. The film stars Harry Shum, Jr., ...

'', directed by

Ross Ching Ross Ching is an American filmmaker based in Los Angeles, California. Early life and education Ching grew up in San Jose, California. He started making skateboarding videos as a teenager. Ching went on to study film at San Diego State Universit ...

and produced by

Don Le Don Pham Le (born September 20, 1983) is an American television and music video producer. Career In 2008, he co-founded the production company Northern Five Entertainment and produced the original pilot episodes for the action web series ''Th ...

and George Wang. In 2012 he starred in ''

'', a comedy-drama film directed by Quentin Lee. Subsequently, Shum was cast in the role of the

Kuai Liang Kuai Liang ( 190s–200s), courtesy name Zirou, was an adviser to the warlord Liu Biao during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was from Zhonglu County, Nan Commandery, which is located southwest of present-day Xiangyang, Hubei. He had ...

(the younger Sub-Zero) in the second season of '' Mortal Kombat: Legacy''. Harry had a major role in crime drama film ''

'', which was executive produced by Martin Scorsese. Shum was also the judge on the

reality competition Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

television series '' Face Off.''

2015–18: ''Shadowhunters'' and other films

In 2016, Shum appeared as the character Wei-Fang in the Netflix American–Chinese martial arts film '' Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny,'' a sequel to ''

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' is a 2000 wuxia film directed by Ang Lee and written for the screen by Wang Hui-ling, James Schamus, and Tsai Kuo-jung . The film features a cast of actors of Chinese people, Chinese ethnicity, including Ch ...

'' (1999). Shum was also cast as the male lead, Peter Ma, in ''Single By 30'', a YouTube Red original series from Wong Fu Productions and New Form Digital after starring in the original pilot in 2015. The first season of the series premiered on August 24, 2016, on Wong Fu Productions' Channel. Shum scored a primary role in the Freeform series, '' Shadowhunters'', and portrayed the centuries-old warlock

between 2016 and 2019. The show was based on Cassandra Clare's best-selling young adult fantasy series, ''

The Mortal Instruments ''The Mortal Instruments'' is a series of six young adult fantasy novels written by American author Cassandra Clare, the last of which was published on May 27, 2014. ''The Mortal Instruments'' is chronologically the third series of a planned fi ...

''. His portrayal of Bane, a bisexual man of color, helped '' Shadowhunters'' win the 2017

GLAAD GLAAD (), an acronym of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals ...

media award for an "Outstanding Drama Series", which he accepted with his co-star

Matthew Daddario Matthew Quincy Daddario (born October 1, 1987) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Alec Lightwood on the Freeform television series ''Shadowhunters'' (2016–2019). He is the younger brother of actress Alexandra Daddario. Ea ...

. Shum also received the Bisexual Representation Award (BiRA) for "Best Bisexual Representation of a Supporting Character" in both 2017 and 2018 hosted by FluidStyleCo. Shum won the award for The Male TV Star of 2018 in the

for his role as Magnus Bane in '' Shadowhunters''. Alongside his work in '' Shadowhunters'', he received supporting roles in movies including '' Escape Plan: The Extractors'' and '' Burn''. In 2018, Shum was cast as Charlie Wu in Jon M. Chu's ''Crazy Rich Asians,'' and despite most of his scenes being cut due to the desire to focus on one romantic pairing, he appears briefly in a mid-credits scene, hinting at a romantic link to one of the characters, Astrid Leong-Teo.

Later career: 2019–present

In 2019, Shum appeared in 4 episodes of '' Tell Me a Story'' which premiered in December 2019. In March 2020, Shum guest starred in an episode of Comedy Central's ''Awkwafina is Nora from Queens''. On December 4, the romantic drama ''All My Life'' was released in US theaters, followed by a premium video-on-demand release on December 23, and a streaming release on HBO Max on August 7, 2021. '' All My Life'' was inspired by true events and Shum portrayed a real-life person in this movie. Conspiracy thriller ''

'' in which Shum starred and served as an executive producer, premiered to critical acclaim at

South by Southwest Film Festival South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, T ...

in March 2021 and was released On Demand and in select theaters on October 22, 2021. Shum appeared in Netflix's holiday romantic comedy ''

'' which was released on November 5, 2021. In the film, the actor played

Jimmy O. Yang Jimmy O. Yang (; born June 11, 1987) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, and writer. As an actor, he is best known for starring as Jian-Yang in the HBO comedy series ''Silicon Valley'', as Dr. Chan Kaifang in the Netflix comedy series ''Sp ...

's character's brother, Owen Lin, and was praised by the audience for his comic timing. In March 2022, Shum appeared in a supporting role in the critically acclaimed film ''

.'' Michelle Yeoh, called Shum "the most incredible physical comedian ever," referring to his performance in the film. On May 6, 2022, Deadline reported that a ''

'' spinoff is in early development at Warner Bros. and is set to focus on the relationship between Astrid Leong-Teo and Charlie Wu, played respectively by

and Shum. Starting October 2022, Shum joined the cast of Grey's Anatomy season 19 as surgical intern Dr. Benson "Blue" Kwan.

Personal life

Shum began a relationship with actress and dancer

Shelby Rabara Shelby Ann Narito Rabara Shum (née Rabara; born October 5, 1983) is an American actress and dancer who has appeared in a number of films, television series and commercials as both an actress and a dancer. Rabara is known for providing the voice ...

in 2007. The two were engaged in October 2013 while on vacation in Hawaii and were married on November 22, 2015, in

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

. They have a daughter. Shum has stated that he identifies as being somewhat

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

. He said, "It's strange that I am full Chinese and born in a Latin country, but I love the fact that I was immersed in that culture at birth while maintaining my Chinese roots."

Filmography

Film

Television/Series

Other

Awards and nominations

Discography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shum, Harry Jr. 1982 births Living people American male actors of Chinese descent American dancers of Asian descent 21st-century American male actors American people of Costa Rican descent Male actors from San Francisco American choreographers American male film actors American people of Chinese descent American people of Hong Kong descent American male dancers American musicians of Chinese descent American male television actors Costa Rican emigrants to the United States Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area People from Limón Province Costa Rican people of Chinese descent Costa Rican people of Hong Kong descent San Francisco State University alumni Hispanic and Latino American male actors Hispanic and Latino American dancers Hispanic and Latino American musicians